My first bout of ich chronicles

Alright, for those of you that haven't seen my thread about my recent outbreak of ich, I'm starting this one up to chronicle my attempts to get rid of it. Here's a breakdown as to what's going on. My B&W ocellaris showed symptoms of ich yesterday, numerous white spots started to appear. Now today, she's developed labor breathing, loss of appetite, and slight fade in colors, I fear she may be too far gone to save. Also my orange ocellaris has a few white spots developing also.

Now for the steps I've taken. I got some garlic juice to keep them eating and maybe entice the b&w to eat. Transferred them to a QT tank that is equiped with a heater, PVC pipe to hide in, air supply, and minimal movement supplied by a HOB filter. I'm going to keep up with a few small feedings each day with garlic and start hypo salinity treatment to kill the ich parasites. I've read that copper and clowns don't mix very well so I'm going to stay away from that type of treatment. I'll leave the clowns in QT for 4 or more weeks and leave my DT fallow of fish to try and kill all the forms of the parasite.

I'll keep this thread updated and if anyone has any helpful advice I'm all ears. Hopefully if all goes well, others can use this thread for any ich help. If it doesn't go well, then we all know the outcome.

 

Best of luck to you. When my clowns developed brooklynella, the female's breathing and swimming were so bad I thought the same as you; too far gone to save. After two days of treatment, she was back up and harassing the male!

subscribed.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I just looked in the QT and she was doing the upside down spasm thing. She did that a few times and is now laying on the bottom.

 

Mine lain on the bottom for the first day if I remember. It just takes time. I kept the towel wrapped around the tank and only turned on the light twice a day to see how the fish were doing. It helped the fish from getting stressed and it helped me from stressing out about everything the fish was doing as well.

 

Unfortunately, for most fish, after an outbreak of ich, the quarantine is more stressful and they will die. To prevent ich, the fishes immune system needs to be strong enough to ward it off, much like we humans ward off colds and flu. Look around, there are always people who once or twice a year get a cold/flu (poor immune system) and those who never get sick (properly balanced immune system). Tropical Science makes a great product named Marine-Max that boosts the fishes immune system, which is the way to prevent ich and other diseases. I have promoted this product many, many times. It works. I suggest it.

 

Good luck. I hope they pull through!! I'll be reading this and waiting for updates.

 

Time for a sad update, the b&w didn't make it . The orange one is still doing good and was eating some garlic soaked mysis/brine mixture. Hopefully he'll pull through and I can get rid of this ich problem. The only thing I'm worried about is his size. He's only about an inch long so I really need to keep him eating. I don't know what's going on but I've had the worst luck with clowns these past few months.

 

Yes, troubling

 

So could I add this stuff to the QT tank to help fight off the ich or should I just use this in the DT? And is it a regular dosing or how does it work?

 

Here is a site with a good price; Freshmarine - Marine Max - Water Additive Fresh Water Aquarium Treatment - Buy Marine Max Now and Save! It is used in the DT. You can use it in the QT as it will help the fish ward off the ich. I would say if you have fish in the QT, yes, use it in there and treat the DT. Once the fish is ich free, of course re-introduce it to the DT. There are instructions on its' use. If Dt has an issue, i.e. ich, it says three times a week. If using as preventative, every other week. I used it once a month for 3-4 months and then occasionally use it. In the beginning (when I first got interested) I had bought some and hadn't added it to the display yet. I got a new fish and didn't put it in before adding the new fish (as they recommend) and two of my fish developed ich. I added the Marine-Max and in two days all the fish were in perfect health, I was sold on the product.